A transgender woman has won a landmark court battle to have her gender changed on national identity cards from male to female.
Tshepo Ricki Kgositau said she was facing emotional distress and vulnerability to abuse as she has identified as a woman since an early age, reports Reuters.
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The court ruled on Tuesday that Kgositau’s gender should be changed to female in the national registry in seven days.
Kgositau is the executive director of South African-based human rights organisation Gender Dynamix which is advocating for transgender rights.
She included supporting evidence from her immediate family and a psychologist to prove that she is a woman and her family loved her as such.
This ruling follows the September 2017 landmark ruling against the refusal of the National Registration Centre to change the gender marker of a transgender man.
The judiciary has been clear on the illegality of homosexual acts in the country but rules in favour of their rights as citizens.
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In 2014, a court overturned a government ban on registering LGBT lobbying groups fighting to change the country’s laws.
Botswana’s laws do not recognise same-sex relationships and marriages. South Africa is the only country in Africa that recognizes same-sex marriage.
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